TESTIMONIES IN ACTION
Sustainability
The Quaker Meeting House was refurbished with as much environmental consideration as possible. As a listed building, we were limited with what was possible, but have made the building as eco-friendly as we could.
We recycle all that we can from Meeting House activities.
Community
There’s an old joke which says if you get three lawyers together in a room, you’ll get four opinions. It has to be admitted that if you get three Quakers together in a room, you’ll probably get six opinions, plus one or two more just to ensure nobody not present is feeling left out. Far from being a crippling weakness, this is actually one of our strengths – that we are always on the lookout not only to ensure that people are not feeling excluded, but also to remember that we have much to learn from those we have not yet met.
Sustainability
The Quaker Meeting House was refurbished with as much environmental consideration as possible. As a listed building, we were limited with what was possible, but have made the building as eco-friendly as we could.
- Heating is provided by an air source heat pump
- Photovoltaic panels on the south-facing rear roof
- Low energy lighting, much of it on movement sensors
We recycle all that we can from Meeting House activities.
Community
There’s an old joke which says if you get three lawyers together in a room, you’ll get four opinions. It has to be admitted that if you get three Quakers together in a room, you’ll probably get six opinions, plus one or two more just to ensure nobody not present is feeling left out. Far from being a crippling weakness, this is actually one of our strengths – that we are always on the lookout not only to ensure that people are not feeling excluded, but also to remember that we have much to learn from those we have not yet met.
Peace
The Quaker Peace Testimony:
"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world."
Declaration of Friends to Charles II, 1660
Ask anyone, Quaker or otherwise, about the essential beliefs of the Society of Friends and chances are you will hear something about `Friends' historic peace testimony'.
'Quakers don't fight in wars' is something specific that people can say about this awkward sect which steadfastly refuses to be defined by creed or dogma.
Moreover, in a world where it is considered acceptable, indeed praiseworthy, to go to war and kill one another for the sake of peace or justice, in a world where we have learned to define our successes, amass our fortunes or win our arguments at the expense of others like us (our enemies) who lose out, the perception that 'Quakers are peacemakers' sets Friends apart and makes them visible.
The Quaker Peace Testimony:
"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world."
Declaration of Friends to Charles II, 1660
Ask anyone, Quaker or otherwise, about the essential beliefs of the Society of Friends and chances are you will hear something about `Friends' historic peace testimony'.
'Quakers don't fight in wars' is something specific that people can say about this awkward sect which steadfastly refuses to be defined by creed or dogma.
Moreover, in a world where it is considered acceptable, indeed praiseworthy, to go to war and kill one another for the sake of peace or justice, in a world where we have learned to define our successes, amass our fortunes or win our arguments at the expense of others like us (our enemies) who lose out, the perception that 'Quakers are peacemakers' sets Friends apart and makes them visible.
- The above extract is from an article from Quaker Home Service 1996, the rest of which can be read here. The last paragraph resonates even more with us today.
- A fuller background can also be found here on the 'Quakers in the world' website.
- The most up to date information on UK Quaker work for peace can be found on the 'Britain Yearly Meeting' website here.